The Rural Development Administration said on the 14th it will develop item-specific "customized fermentation starters" that can be used at industrial sites by selecting indigenous fermentative microorganisms. A fermentation starter refers to cultured microorganisms that aid fermentation when producing fermented foods.
The agency said it first secured 215 strains, including yeasts, molds, and bacteria, to industrialize useful microorganisms derived from traditional fermented foods such as jang products. The Rural Development Administration plans to add 20 strains each year. The secured microorganisms are distributed through the seed bank (KACC).
In addition, through technology transfer and commercialization of the developed starters, 36 types with high potential for use in industrial settings were developed into fermentation starter products in powder or liquid form. The Rural Development Administration said that of the 435 technology transfers to starter companies or fermented food manufacturers over the past 10 years, 250 led to commercialization.
According to the Rural Development Administration, using domestically produced Bacillus starters reduced the meju fermentation period, which previously took nearly a month, to two weeks, improving work efficiency by more than 50%.
Meanwhile, the Rural Development Administration is also pushing to build databases of microorganisms in response to the AI era. It has compiled more than 18,000 analyses on fermentation characteristics, functionality, and safety, and plans to expand user-customized services such as AI-based strain recommendations by using integrated data going forward.